Dental Aggregate

I feel fortunate that, in our dental office, there has rarely been a situation where office gossip has taken place, since the affect of gossip often destroys personal and business relationships and creates so much tension in the air, you could almost cut it with a knife. On the rare occasion that office gossip began to rear its ugly head, typically with new employees without much sense, the tendency was quickly nipped in the bud by having a private meeting with the culprit. More often than not this method worked well, but there have been a couple of occasions where the gossip had to be put to a stop by firing the repeat offender.

Our office is rather small, with only the Doctor, me and one part-time Hygienist, so the chances of in office gossip is now rather low. We also get along very well, and have established close friendships, so I can’t even imagine what it might be like for others working in offices where gossip runs rampant.

There have been a couple of occasions over the years where there has been a personality clash, or one employee trying to Lord-it-over another employee, but those are quickly resolved with assertive and frank discussion.

My co-worker is the Doctor’s sister, and there have been a couple of occasions over the years where she has attempted to play the role of “boss” over me, and tried to tell me how to do my job even though she has no concept of what all I do, since she’s only there two days a week.

If she were to sit down in front of the computer to schedule an appointment for a patient while I am busy assisting the doctor, she ultimately has to come and get me because she doesn’t know how to use the dental software program we use. It’s not that she hasn’t been shown repeatedly how to use the Easy Dental Program, it’s just that she works in three different offices and of course forgets after awhile of non-use.

It makes sense and is reasonable that she would not be able to remember such things, and I don’t get upset about it. She’s the Hygienist, there to clean patients teeth and take their x-rays etc, not handle my responsibilities as Front Office Manager and Dental Assistant to the doctor.

Negative Gossip Hurts Everyone-

I believe there is a difference between good-gossip vs. negative-gossip. To mention to someone else some good news about a co-workers upcoming Birthday, Anniversary or Promotion for example, although considered to be “gossip”, I believe is expressing positive communication that builds others up, is harmless and shows we care about the other person and want to share in their happy and joyous moments.

However, negative gossip, back-stabbing, hurtful comments amongst co-workers is detrimental to the entire office, not just the victim of gossip. The atmosphere within the office amongst co-workers and staff is disrupted, often causing arguments and hurt feelings that never forgotten.

Offices and employers should maintain Zero Tolerance for In-Office Gossip Policy, subsequently firing anyone who breaks the office policy. This is the policy we have in our office, and it has worked well for us as a whole and it can work well for yours too.

Tags: Business Relationships, Communication, Productivity //